Network Apparatus and Packet Processing Device

1. A network apparatus to be connected to a network, the network apparatus comprising at least one packet processing unit, each packet processing unit including at least four connectors capable of coupling with one of a plurality of network interfaces having different sizes to be accommodated in one slot, a packet forwarding unit configured to process a packet to be input from one of the network interfaces via any one of the connectors, and output the packet toward a network interface to be coupled with the connector, and a path control unit configured to manage a path between the packet forwarding unit and the connector; wherein the path control unit is configured to determine a state of the path when detecting that one of the connectors is electrically connected to the network interface, and control the path on the basis of the determination result.

2. The network apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the path control unit is configured to monitor a state of the connectors, and detect whether the connectors are electrically connected to the network interfaces.

3. The network apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the connectors are disposed in a two-dimensional direction on a plane perpendicular to a surface of a substrate of the network interfaces.

4. The network apparatus according to claim 1 , the network apparatus further comprising a management unit, wherein four or more of the connectors are provided, and the management unit is configured to acquire a state of the connector indicating whether the connector is electrically connected to the network interface, and output the state of the connector to each of the at least one packet processing unit.

5. The network apparatus according to claim 1 , the network apparatus further comprising a switch fabric unit configured to forward a packet between a plurality of packet forwarding units, wherein the packet forwarded via the switch fabric unit is transmitted to a network via the network interface to be electrically connected to the connector.

6. A network apparatus comprising: at least a slot capable of accommodating a plurality of network interfaces; and a plurality of connectors to be electrically connected to the slot and the network interfaces, wherein the slot includes a packet processing unit, the plurality of network interfaces are two-dimensionally disposed on a plane parallel to a surface of a substrate of the network interfaces inside the slot, with respect to the slot, at least two of the network interfaces have different sizes in two axial directions orthogonal to each other in a plane perpendicular to the parallel plane, the connectors are two-dimensionally disposed in a plane perpendicular to the substrate surface and are disposed in a one-dimensional direction in the plane perpendicular to the substrate surface for each network interface; the packet processing unit includes a packet forwarding unit configured to process a packet to be input and output via at least one transmission path among a plurality of transmission paths capable of transmitting data between the packet forwarding unit and the connectors, and the packet processing unit selects the transmission path depending on electrical connection between the connectors and the network interfaces, and processes the packet to be forwarded between the network interfaces.

7. The network apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein the packet processing unit includes a packet forwarding unit configured to process a packet to be forwarded between the network interfaces and the plurality of connectors, and data transfer is controlled between the packet forwarding unit and the connector depending on the electrical connection between each connector and each network interface.

8. A packet processing device comprising: at least four connectors capable of coupling with one of network interfaces having different sizes to be accommodated in one slot; and a packet forwarding unit configured to process a packet to be input from one of the network interfaces via any one of the connectors, and output the packet toward one of the network interfaces to be coupled with the connector, wherein the network interface is two-dimensionally disposed on a plane parallel to a surface of a substrate of the network interfaces in the slot, with respect to the slot, at least two of the network interfaces have different sizes in two axial directions orthogonal to each other in a plane perpendicular to the parallel plane, the connectors are two-dimensionally disposed in a plane perpendicular to the substrate surface and are disposed in a one-dimensional direction parallel to the substrate in the plane perpendicular to the substrate surface for each network interface; and the packet processing device further comprises a path management unit configured to select a path corresponding to the connector to be electrically connected to the network interface depending on electrical connection between one of the connectors and the network interface.